he average entrepreneur can be consumed by the start up of their business, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have leisure time for an SO. It just means that if you want to date an entrepreneur you need to have a few relationship skills down. Don’t worry no one is perfect so you don’t need to have mastered these before you date an entrepreneur. As long as you work towards practicing these tips, they will prove to be a relationship builder!
Business comes first sometimes
Starting a business takes a lot of hard work between keeping odd hours, pitch meetings, investors, marketing strategies, prototypes, branding, manufacturing, profit margins, and so much more it’s very demanding. Growing a business is certainly a labor of love for entrepreneurs who dedicate a lot of time, money, and mental capacity to it which sometimes mean a little less than ideal juggling act between the business and personal life.
Be considerate of your partners’ business needs. Sometimes this can mean canceled plans at times, quick dates, and occasionally having to compromise on certain things. Remember not to take these things personally. It’s not that your SO doesn’t want to spend time with you, but they have a work responsibility to their company. Just because being an entrepreneur tends to make someone the head of the company or prominent figure, doesn’t mean they can do whatever whenever. Certain meetings and other things can be the difference between their company succeeding or failing. Don’t worry though a good partner will put in the effort to make it up to sometimes when these unexpected crises or work issues come up.
Be supportive
Dating an entrepreneur sometimes means you are dating the business too. Being a positive force and helping with the business from time to time is a great way to show you care about your SO and to help support the business. Fortunately there are few ways to help out!
Promote their business
Try showing the entrepreneur in your life you care by recommending their product to other people. Product visibility and word of mouth buzz can do a lot especially for a small business. If you can’t think of a way to hype up your SO’s business.
- Be an active participant on their social media. Like, comment, and share!
- Show them off on social media- Showcase your partner’s product or service out on social media and tag their business page.
- Try giving their product out as a gift- sometimes you don’t know what you want until you have it! You help your SO with at least one sale, and it’s an opportunity to get repeat customers.
- Suggest to friends- bring it up casually if the opportunity comes up or show off the goods when you have people over for polite conversation.
Offer to help
Sometimes a little goes a long way. Obviously you don’t want to overstep and cross a boundary lines of business and relationships, but there are a few simple ways you can offer support while keeping it low key.
Offer to travel with them. Sometimes striking alone gets hard, and even though it’s not romanticizing, a nice road trip or airplane ride can be a great time to catch up and have a nice time. You two can take turns driving if you’re road tripping or you guys can keep each other entertained while waiting for the airplane to off.
Trying going to a show or festival with them- sometimes the best way to sell a product is by being a vendor at shows, festivales, and events alike. Be a helping hand by offering to help set-up, work the stand, or even just help load up the car with the products before they head out.
Emotional Support
Being an entrepreneur can take a certain fatigue even when someone is passionate about their product. There are highs and lows in the business just like anywhere else. Ask about their work and check up on how their business is doing. Ask them how they are feeling about what they think is the next step for their product. If things are shaky as it happens try keep up moral and be positive or maybe even show them a few suggestions from the internet on what makes for a good entrepreneur.
Be conscious of their time
Being a business owner is full time responsibility, not to mention some still work a steady job to keep up with bills. Try a few of these few helpful tips to help maximize time efficiency in your relationship.
- Plan short dates- Try doing a 15 minute coffee download. It’s short, simple, and caffeine is a great source of energy. This is a great way to keep constant community and quality time without sacrificing too much work time.
- FaceTime/Video Chat- Video chat is a great way to time deepen. You can watch a TV show while your SO is driving or working. This is a great way to bring his or her presence into your day without being intrusive.
- Create Work Days- Make an agreement to not contact your SO during their busy times. Carve out a few days for your SO to have time to focus on their business. On these days respect their space and keep yourself busy with other distractions perhaps like planning the next date so your SO doesn’t have to.
- Plan the dates- Take this romantic effort to plan out our dates. This will save your SO some time and a little struggle.
Nurture their entrepreneurial spirit
Passion is just one of many key characteristics of an amazing entrepreneur, but sometimes the grind wears on any person. If your SO is looking low help feed their passion to reignite the spark. Sometimes good vibes are good for business. If you’re looking for a way to help check out a few ideas we have for below.
- Creativity- Sometimes being in mental rut can have a moral low. Help your SO get back on track by shaking up the scenery. Take them out on fun or adventurous dates! Sometimes all you need is a fresh level of stimulation to get the juices going.
- Risk taking- If your partner is on the fence about making a deal, help them way the pros and cons. Remember if Coke from their “New Coke” launch in the 80’s your partner’s business could probably survive a risk or two. Besides you can always learn from your mistakes.
- Discipline- Growing a business takes a certain amount of grinding day in and day out. Help encourage your SO’s discipline skills by helping them stick to certain schedules and encouraging them to stay on track when you know they have a deadline coming up.
- Open-mindedness- Encourage your partner to try out new things with their products. Having a good niche is fine, but if there is a way to grow the business or expand it’s selling power encourage your partner to at least consider branching out from their comfort zone from time to time. A great way to help stimulate this taking your partner out to places they’ve never been before.
- Competitive spirit- If your partner has lost a little bit of their edge encourage a little friendly competition. A great way to do this is play a game with them like Mario Kart, Uno, or Monopoly. Remember the higher the stakes the better it will remind your SO what’s like to edge out the competition or at least how good it feels to know they tried their best.
- Passion- Every amazing entrepreneur believes in their product. If your SO is overwhelmed by the business and aren't feeling as passionate as they once were, encourage them to take a few days off from the hustle. Sometimes all you need is a little break before you realize how much you miss something.
- Perseverance- Giving up too early on a business plan is a mistake that some entrepreneurs make all too often. If your SO is feeling like they might wanna quit, remind them that they need to give it their best shot. To encourage perseverance make them a hype playlist.
- Organization- This trait is key to all business plans. Help keep your partner organized by getting them some helpful gifts like office supplies and helpful reminder sticky notes!
Remember relationships are all about compromise on both sides. So if you’re having issues remember to speak up because give and take goes both ways! Just because your SO’s business is a priority doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be. From time to time time have little check ins if need be about your relationship and about the business. You are just as important! As long as the give and take goes both ways you should be set to sail on a great relationship with an entrepreneur.
